Bank of America Raises Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Price Target to $61.00

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $52.00 to $61.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Merus from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a buy rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $56.80.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRUS opened at $59.99 on Friday. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $19.81 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -21.66 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.38.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merus will post -3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Merus by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at about $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus during the first quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Merus by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Merus

Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in the development of antibody therapeutics in the Netherlands. Its bispecific antibody candidate pipeline includes Zenocutuzumab (MCLA-128), which is in a phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer, as well as in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors that harbor Neuregulin 1.